Such "aposematic" color patterns
are found everywhere throughout the world of insects,
from black and yellow-striped stinging wasps to black
and red, bitter-tasting ladybird beetles, or brightly-colored,
poisonous tropical butterflies (see also Janzen, 1980).
Being poisonous and aposematic does
not always help. Cuckoos are known for being able
to deal with hairy and/or poisonous caterpillars and
we have seen the Squirrel Cuckoo to the left coming
back to a caterpillar infested tree for yet another
snack! The Cuckoos simple whack the caterpillars against a branch until the poisonous gut content is gone and then swallows the remains.
Usually during November - December,
we find these caterpillars. They can be very common
and partly defoliate their hostplant. The hostplant
is the Frangipani or Plumeria rubra although
I have been shown pictures of this caterpillar feeding
on an Allamanda sp. Both belong to the Apocynaceae
family.
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